We hope this finds you with family and friends celebrating the true reason for the season! We miss you terribly during this holiday and hope you know how much we love you! Things have yet to slow down on the island…. we prepared for and finally received the Prime Minister of Tuvalu on Tuesday (since all the Kioans are from Tuvalu this is a big deal) and then celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in true Kioan fashion – feasting and dancing. There was, however, an addition to the usual festivities for Christmas – the pamupu fana AKA bamboo gun. Yes, children of all ages, shapes, and sizes partook in lighting kerosene inside a shoot of bamboo 24/7 all day and all night. Whoever has the loudest boom without burning flesh wins! For 48 hours non-stop we felt like we were on the beaches of Normandy…. for more details and a video, check out Mataio's earlier blog post.

Our Christmas living in London was unique, but at least we had similar climates! I am told it is snowing in Texas now and it is a just the opposite here! To top off our unique Christmas, we cooled off by snorkeling in our backyard. Wishing you were all here … Merry Christmas! We love you! Keli & Mataio

Kelly Roy

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Canoe flotilia to welcome the Prime Minister of Tuvalu.

See the outhouse overhanging the river? See the children fishing? 

Apparently it is perfectly fine to poop on your food, but not on blueprints!

We finally felt Christmas-y when we received an AWESOME package from Jill!! Thank You!! We love you!!! 

Some photos from the reef just outside the village.

 The water is shallow and the water clear. Perfect for snorkeling!

We celebrated Christmas Eve with our neighbors, Paki and Filo. 

Yes mom, I'm sunburned. Yes mom, I wore sunscreen. Yes mom, I burned my arm on the "oven" again. Yes mom, I am being careful.